Dioctophyma renale or the giant kidney worm is a common parasital worm found especially in carnivorous animals, particularly minks and mustelids. It can also infect dogs and humans. Becoming up to 60 centimeters in length in mink and up to 100 centimeters in lupine animals, this vermillion kidney worm is one of the largest of all parasitic nematodes. A parasite is an organism that spends a significant portion of its life in or on the living tissue of a host organism and which causes harm to the host without immediately killing it. ... This tigers sharp teeth and strong jaws are the classical physical traits expected from carnivorous mammalian predators A carnivore (IPA: ), meaning meat eater (Latin carne meaning flesh and vorare meaning to devour), is an animal that eats a diet consisting mainly of meat, whether it comes from live animals... Species Mustela vison Mustela vison evergladensis Mustela lutreola Mustela macrodon A mink is any of several furry, dark-colored, semi-aquatic, carnivorous mammals of the family Mustelidae, which also includes the weasels and the otters. ... Subfamilies Lutrinae Melinae Mellivorinae Taxidiinae Mustelinae Mustelidae is a family of carnivorous mammals. ... Species Mustela vison Mustela vison evergladensis Mustela lutreola Mustela macrodon A mink is any of several furry, dark-colored, semi-aquatic, carnivorous mammals of the family Mustelidae, which also includes the weasels and the otters. ... Lupine may be one of several things: Something that is like, or relating to, a wolf (Canis lupus). ... Classes Adenophora    Subclass Enoplia    Subclass Chromadoria Secernentea    Subclass Rhabditia    Subclass Spiruria    Subclass Diplogasteria The roundworms (Phylum Nematoda) are one of the most common phyla of animals, with over 20,000 different described species. ...

The giant kidney worm enters the definitive host (most commonly the mink) after ingestion of raw fish, frogs, or annelids containing encysted larvae. The larva migrates through the bowel wall and travels through the abdominal cavity first to the liver and then to the kidney. It slowly devouring the renal tissue of the host and reducing it to a hollow organic sack. It is found more frequently in the right kidney than in the left.^[1] It can also occur in the digestive tract. Classes and subclasses Class Polychaeta (paraphyletic?) Class Clitellata*    Oligochaeta - earthworms, etc. ... A larva (Latin; plural larvae) is a juvenile form of animal with indirect development, undergoing metamorphosis (for example, insects or amphibians). ... Kidneys viewed from behind with spine removed The kidneys are bean-shaped excretory organs in vertebrates. ... For the Physics term GUT, please refer to Grand unification theory The gastrointestinal or digestive tract, also referred to as the GI tract or the alimentary canal or the gut, is the system of organs within multicellular animals which takes in food, digests it to extract energy and nutrients, and...

Occasionally this worm is an incidental finding within the abdominal cavity during routine ovariohysterectomies on canines in veterinary practices. Castration, gelding, neutering, orchiectomy or orchidectomy is any action, surgical or otherwise, by which a biological male loses use of the testes. ...

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